The News Review:
- Retailers rejoice: Cyber Monday sales figures rise
- Wal-Mart Reports November Sales
- UPDATE: Merck Sees 2009 Profit Below Estimates
Retailers rejoice: Cyber Monday sales figures rise
Los Angeles Times CA
Another online merchant that saw a sales jump was Newegg Inc. a consumer electronics retailer based in City of Industry. The site said its sales surged 169% on Black Friday compared with the same day last year. “All online retailers are doing much more aggressive marketing” said Bernard Luthi vice president of marketing and merchandising at Newegg which offered a 42-inch LCD television for $499 on Black Friday. “Customers are starting to see online buying as an integral part of their holiday shopping. “Many sites hoping to keep up the momentum have extended their Cyber Monday specials into the week Lipsman said. “But the reality is that the economy is so tight that strong profits are out of the question for the majority of retailers” he said.
Wal-Mart Reports November Sales
MarketWatch
At Seiyu in Japan comparable store sales increased in the low singledigits. Food and consumables sales were higher driven by strong traction ofthe shift to every day low pricing in key categories. Apparel and generalmerchandise sales were lower but improved from prior months due to focusedmarketing efforts. Higher average ticket and customer count contributed to a comparable storesales increase in the mid single digits at Wal-Mart China and in the highsingle digits at Trust-Mart. Guidance “Providing sales guidance is difficult given today’s external economicenvironment” said Tom Schoewe executive vice president and chief financialofficer. “Having said that we expect comparable store sales for the Decemberfive-week period to be near the high end of our previously stated fourthquarter guidance of one to three percent. The December period runs from Saturday Nov.
UPDATE: Merck Sees 2009 Profit Below Estimates
CNNMoney.com
) By Peter Loftus Of DOW JONES NEWSWIRES Merck & Co. (MRK) unveiled a 2009 profit forecast that fell well short of WallStreet expectations citing the global economic volatility sluggish sales forits top products and unfavorable foreign-exchange rates. The Whitehouse Station N. drug maker’s executives said the economicslowdown was already hurting its business and indicated that other drug makersalso were feeling the pinch. This suggests the health-care sector may not be asinsulated from the broader downturn as some have expected.
Related from Liquidityx: RPT-Campbell profit beats; sees forex hitting ‘09 vie